Saturday, February 11, 2012

14 days of loves: day 9 {our gray dining room}

Once upon a time, we painted our dining room bright green.
I wrote about it here.

For two and a half years we have enjoyed our vivid dining space...
however, we are soon to list our house for sale
and I had my doubts as to whether any potential buyers would see the beauty in the hue.
In fact, pretty sure it would 
scare most buyers away.
Immediately.
{you need vision people!  it's only paint!}

Anyway, so we painted it.
Um, correction:  Hubby painted it.
{he is an awesome painter!!! we I don't even have to tape anymore!}

Went with Woodlawn Colonial Gray {Valspar}
a color we love so much now we plan
to use it in our new home.
(And by "new" I mean 150 years old.)

Here is the finished product:













Gorgeous gray, right?

I'm also having fun getting packing up all kinds of other things that might deter buyers...such as personal photographs, certain artwork, and raggedy paperback books.  
Oh, and developing an attack plan for hiding all baby items 
whenever we have a showing.

Keeps a mama busy!
As if the crawling kiddo didn't already.
Wanna see him crawl the first time?  Click HERE to see me nearly pee with excitement over this milestone.
:)

Anyone else have a room painted gray that they absolutely love?
g

14 days of loves: day 8 {Jergen's Natural Glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer}

...otherwise entitled: Confessions of a Tanorexic. Well, former tanorexic.
This is not to joke.  I know there really are girls/women out there that are addicted to tanning.   It was never a real addiction for me. I didn't go to multiple salons and tan multiple times a day...
but there was a time in my life when I was simply too tan.
Don't believe me?  Check it out:
 I was 19 here. 
I would tan probably 3 or 4 times a week during this period, in a low-pressure/high-likelihood-of-burning bed.    
Clearly I thought raccoon eyes looked good. 


Needless to say, all that tanning leaves me now, 10 years later, with probably more moles, sunspots, and wrinkles than I would have otherwise.


Yes, if I could go back in time, I definitely would not have tanned quite so much.

 I continued to tan since then, but not to such an extreme.  I went through various "pale periods."   I even started actually using sunscreen.
But last year, when I got pregnant,
my semi-regular {bad} habit of tanning came to an abrupt halt.   I had no desire to "overheat" my baby or any of the other crazy stories that I read would happen if you tan while pregnant.
It wasn't hard to stop at all --
 I was too tired to drive to a tanning salon anyway!
So I ended up pretty pale by the end of my pregnancy...
even though it was mid-summer....
and I was okay with that.
However, I cannot deny: I like being tan.
Not overly-tan, like above, but with a nice
subtle, healthy, beachy glow.
So, I've turned to self-tanning.
I've tried spray-tans at the salon, but unless I do the palest possible shade I end up looking "orangey." 
Plus, with Baby it is rather inconvenient to ever go tanning anywhere.
I've tried lotions, but those have left me pretty streaky.

My latest find:

I actually use the "fair to medium" version...and I LOVE it!
It doesn't smell, it is really lightweight, dries quickly and leaves my skin soft.  
Did I mention I love it?
I exfoliate during my morning shower and apply after drying off for smooth results.
I  just use it instead of my normal body lotion.

I saw nice results after 3 days --
highly recommend if you are looking for a 
UV-Free glow!
Still looking for a good facial self-tanner
that is within my scant beauty budget.

Anyone have one they love, that is not too pricey?

'Til I find one, I'll stick with a little bit o' bronzer now and then. 
And sunscreen every. single. day.
g